Convertible bulkhead for refrigerator cars



Aug. 4, 1942.

A. F. QCONNOR 2,292,010

CONVERTIBLE BULKHEAD FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Oct. 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l jy 0 0 0 0P0 0T0 0 ,K' 00000000 4 13 I -l-l II 'll n n a j :I l z 0 6* If? I- 0 0 0 0 I; /0 O 'O O 0 Z Aug- 1942- A. F. OCONNOR 2,292,010

CONVERTIBLE BULKHEAD FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed Oct. 30 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 4, 1942 CONVERTIBLE BULKHEAD FOR REFRIGER- ATOR CARS Arthur F. OConnor, Chicago, 111., assignor to Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 30, 1941, Serial No. 417,057

9 Claims.

The invention relates to refrigerator cars and more particularly to. refrigerator cars having a transverse bulkhead defining one of the. walls of an ice bunker in the end portion of the car, the bulkhead being movable to a stored position parallel with and adjacent the end wall of the car when the ice bunker is not required. The invention relates particularly to a movable bulkhead of the type shown and described in my pending application Serial No. 315,644, filed J anuary 26, 1940, wherein the bulkhead is suspended upon rollers which travel upon track members secured to the car side walls adjacent the ceiling of the car, and has for its principal object the provision of improved means for anchoring the lower portion of the bulkhead when in the extended position. The present invention is an improvement upon the structure of my beforementioned application and is also an improvement upon my pending application Serial No. 415,695 filed October 20, 1941, the latter application having for its principal object an improved means for anchoring the lower portion of a movable bulkhead.

An object of the invention is to provide bulkhead locking members of great strength and lightv weight in order to resist bending and distortion when the bulkhead is anchored by the locking members, the tendency to distort such members being due to horizontal thrusts applied to the bulkhead, such as by the lading shifting against the bulkhead during the sudden stopping of the car in car switching and coupling operations.

Another object is the provision of improved means for anchoring the lower portion of the bulkhead comprising slidable members associated with the bulkhead and normally urged to a position within the boundaries of the bulkhead.

A further object is to provide slidable locking members associated with the bulkhead which may automatically be moved to bulkhead anchoring position when the ice supporting grate is lowered to operative position.

A further object is to provide slidable locking members associated with the bulkhead which may support the free edge of a pivoted ice supporting grate when the grate is lowered to operative position.

Another object is to provide sliding locking members associated with the bulkhead and which are readily removable for repair or replacement.

A further object is to provide slidable locking members associated with the bulkhead and which are automatically retractible to a position within the boundaries of the bulkhead when the ice supporting grate is swung upwardly to a stored position.

Another object is to provide slidable locking members associated with the bulkhead and provided with detent means adapted to interlock with a portion of the, ice supporting grate when the grate is in ice supporting position whereby the bulkhead will be restrained from moving away from the car end wall more than a predetermined distance by the detent and the ice sup- 7 porting grate.

Another object is to provide slidable locking members mounted upon the bulkhead in a manner whereby the members are substantially within the boundaries of the bulkhead, thereby adding practically nothing to the thickness of the bulkhead and eliminating projecting parts which might be subject to damage which might render such parts inoperative.

A further' object is the provision of slidable locking members mounted upon the bulkhead and being normally urged in one direction by spring means, said spring means being readily removable and replaceable.

Another object is to provide combined bulkhead anchoring and ice grate supporting members adapted to remove the load of the ice on the grates from the bulkhead thereby minimizing the load and stress carried by the bulkhead supporting rollers.

A further object is toprovide locking members and associated parts mounted upon the bulkhead in a manner whereby they will not become loose and subject to misplacement or loss.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the end of a refrigerator car, with the bulkhead and ice grate shown in ice bunker forming position. i

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same portion of the end of the car, taken along line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same portion of the end of the car, taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, with the ice grate shown in stored position and the locking members in retracted position.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional elevation taken along line 44 of Fig. 1, extending from a point above the ice grate to a point below the floor of the car.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional elevation taken along line 5--5 of Fig. 2', showing the channeled portion of the bulkhead which receives the end portions of adjacent ice grate sections.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line I! of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, the reference numeral H) indicates the end Wall of a refrigerator car while l2 and I4 indicate the side wall and floor, respectively, of th car, all of which may be of conventional insulated construction. The end of the car may b provided with an ice bunker I6 which may be separated from an adjacent lading compartment If! by a transversely extending bulkhead 20. The bulkhead 20 may be movable from its extended, ice bunker forming position, to a stored position parallel with and adjacent the end wall of the car and may be provided adjacent its upper margin with suitable rollers and tracks as shown in my application Serial No. 315,644; it may also be provided with rollers adjacent its lower margin if desired. A bulkhead sill 22 may extend transversely of the car in underlying substantially coplanar alignment with the bulkhead when in extended position, and said sillmay be rigidly aifixed in overlying spaced relationship with the car floor [4 by means of supporting members 24.

The lading compartment of the car l8 may be provided with th conventional floor racks 26 adapted to maintain the lading in overlying spaced relationship With the car floor and to provide an air duct 30 intermediate the lading and the car floor. A floor rack extension 28 may be provided in the lower portion of the end. of the car adapted to support part of the lading when the bulkhead is in stored position. The upper surface of the floor rack 26, sill. 22 and the floor rack extension 23 are preferably in a common plane. Th floor rack extension 28 may comprise a slatted floor and may be supported in overlying spaced relationship with the ice bunker floor 32 upon beams 34 which beams may be affixed adjacent their end portions to the sill supporting members 24 and a suitable bracket 35 adjacent the end wall of the car.

It will be noted that a current of chilled air, descending from the ice in th bunker, may freely pass through the openings in the floor rack extension 28, through the space intermediate the car floor and the sill 22, and into the air duct 30 providing for free circulation of air under the lading.

The beams 34 are adapted to support the floor rack extension 28 and are also adapted to rigidify the sill supporting members 24. The sill 22 may comprise an elongated metal plate flanged along one or both of its longitudinal margins as a rigidifying means and may be provided with apertures 38 through its body portion. The sill supporting brackets 24 may comprise inverted U-shaped metal plate members provided with feet portions 40 affixed to the floor l4 by means of bolts or other suitable fastening members. The upper surface of the bracket 24 may be in parallel underlying abutting engagement with the underside of the sill 22 and may be affixed to the sill 22 by welding or riveting and may be provided with apertures adapted to register with the apertures in the sill 22.

The bulkhead 29 may comprise a plurality of metal sheet sections 42 extending in a Vertical plane transversely of the car provided with opposed flanged margins extending vertically and aifixed to intermediate vertically extending channel members 44, the sections 42 and the channel members 44 being unified to form a metallic panel extending transversely of the car, with the channel portions of the members 44 opening toward the ice bunker or end of car.

The ice supporting grat may comprise a plurality of grate sections, each of which may comprise a pair of parallel spaced apart bars 48 set upon edge and provided with a plurality of spaced apart parallel slots 48 disposed perpendicularly with respect to and being secured adjacent their end portion to the spaced apart bars 45. Aligned end portions of the bars 46 may be pivotally and swingably secured to a portion of the car end wall. Th opposite aligned end portions of the bars 46 may be swingable from a vertical stored position adjacent the car end Wall to a horizontal ice supporting position Within the channel portions of the bulkhead members 44.

The structure, as described thus far, is not claimed as part of the present invention. The essential features of this invention are found in the respective improvements hereinafter described.

More particularly, these essential features are the bulkhead locking members A, their associated elements and the cooperation of the members A with the bulkhead 20, the ice grate B and the sill 22.

The locking member A may comprise an elongated member of channel shape having a web portion 53 and flanged margins 52 adapted for nested sliding engagement with the web and flanged margins, respectively, of the bulkhead member 44, adjacent the lower end portion thereof. A plate member 54 may be affixed adjacent its vertical margins to the vertical margins of the opposed flanged portions of th bulkhead member 44 adapted to form a box section for slidably housing the locking member A adjacent the lower end portion of the member 44. The upper end of the locking member A may be closed by means Of a rectangular shaped metal plate 56 disposed in a horizontal plane and affixed to the top margins of the web portion 50 and the flanged margins 52, as by welding. An angular bracket 58 may be affixed to the inner surface of the plate member 54 and may comprise an angle member having a leg thereof extending inwardly in a horizontal plane in parallel spaced underlying relationship with the plate 56 of the locking member A. The bracket 58 may also have a vertica1 leg adapted to abut the inner surface of the plate member 54 and affixeol thereto by a rivet. The bottom margin of the locking member A may be normally substantially coincident with the lower margin of the bulkhead member 44 and the member A may be normally disposed in this position by means of a spring 63 intermediate the horizontal leg of the bracket 53 and the plate 56. may comprise a vertically disposed coil spring with its upper end portion abutting the plate 56 and its lower end portion abutting and supported by the horizontal leg of the bracket 58. The plate 56 may be provided with a downwardly extending dowel 62 adapted to center the upper end portion of the spring 60 and the horizontal leg of the bracket 58 may be provided with an upstanding dowel 64 adapted to center the lower end portion of the spring, the dowels 62 and 64 being in vertical alignment substantially.

The upper surface of the plate 56 may be provided with an upstanding detent 66 which The spring 63 may comprise a U-shaped metal plate member with its web portion in parallel spaced relationship'with the adjacent web portion of the bulkhead member 44 and with its spaced apart flange portions in parallel spaced relationship with the adjacent spaced apart flange portions of the member 44, the lower edge portion of the detent 65- being afiixed to the upper surface of the plate 56, as by welding. The spaced apart flange portions of the detent 66 may be downwardly inclined toward the end of the car.

A removable detent may be provided to limit the upward sliding movement of the locking member A and may comprise a set screw 10 inserted through one of the vertical wall portions of the bulkhead member 44, the end portion of the threaded set screw being adapted to abut the upper portion of the locking member A when it is raised to a predetermined position. The set screw 10 may be inserted through either of the three walls of the bulkhead member 44 or any other type of detent may be used in place of the set screw.

The operation of setting up the ice bunker consists of moving the bulkhead from its stored position adjacent the end wall of the car to the position shown in Fig. 3, at which position it will be noted the locking member A is in registering alignment with the apertures in the sill 22. The ice grate B is next swung downwardly to a horizontal position, with the end portions of the ice grate bars 45 resting upon the plate 55 of the locking member A. The weight of the ice grate B will urge the locking member A downwardly through the aperture in the sill 22, the lower end portion of the member A being adapted to rest upon a shelf 12 or other suitable portions of the sill supporting member 2 t will be seen that, when the locking member A abuts the shelf 12, the free marginal portion of the ice grate B will be supported by the locking member A which, in turn, will anchor the lower portion of the bulkhead in predetermined position. The free end portions of the ice grate bars 45 may be provided with laterally extending abutments Bil adapted, when the ice grate is in supported horizontal position, to enter the space between the web portion 50 of the bulkhead member 44 and the web portion of the detent 66 of the locking member A. The abutments 68 are adapted to restrain, in part, any tendency of the bulkhead to move in a direction away from the end wall of the car, the bars 4% acting as tension members.

The operation of storing the ice grate B and bulkhead consists of swinging the grate upwardly from its horizontal position to a position parallel with and adjacent the car end wall and then moving the bulkhead 23 toward the wall of the car adjacent the stored ice grate. It will be seen that, upon the initial upward movement of the ice grate, the locking members A will be automatically urged to a retracted position within the bulkhead by the springs 69.

I prefer to maintain a distance between the bars 4 5 of adjacent grate sections substantially equal to the distance between the slats 48 of the grate B to prevent an excess amount of the ice from passing through the opening between said adjacent grate sections. I also prefer to use a bulkhead member 44 in which the distance be tween its opposed flanges 52 is greater than the combined width of the adjacent bars 45, in order to use a locking member A of sufiicient crosssectional area to give it the strength which I deem necessary or advisable to insure against bending or distortion of the member A in service. Where this preferred structure is used it may be necessary to prevent the abutments 68 from moving in a direction away from the detent 68 and lugs 14 may be affixed to the end portions of the bars 46 for this purpose, the lugs 14 being adapted to engage the flanged portions of the bulkhead member 44 to maintain the interlocking engagement of the abutments 68 with the detent 66.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker, and an ice grate swingably mounted upon a wall of the car; a grate supporting leg telescopingly mounted upon said bulkhead adaptedfor interlocking holding engagement with the bulkhead and the floor structure of the car when in grate supporting position.

2. In a refrigeratorcar having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker, and an ice grate swingably mounted upon a wall of the car; a combined grate supporting leg and bulkhead anchoring member slidably mounted upon said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the bulkhead and the floor structure of the car when the ice grate is swung to operative position.

3. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker, and an ice grate swingably mounted upon a wall of the car; a bulkhead anchoring member slidably mounted upon said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the bulkhead and the floor structure of the car when the ice grate is swung to operative position and being urged into retracted inoperative position by spring means on the bulkhead when the ice grate is swung to inoperative stored position.

4:. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker and having a vertically extending indented channel portion opening upon the ice bunker side thereof; a bulkhead anchoring member slidably mounted within said channel portion adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the floor structure of the car when in extended position and adapted for disengagement with said floor structure when in retracted position, said anchoring member being normally carried by said bulkhead.

5. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker; a bulkhead anchoring member slidably secured to said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the floor structure of the car, said anchoring member being normally supported upon spring means affixed to said bulkhead whereby said member will normally be maintained within the lower boundary of said bulkhead and out of interlocking engagement with said floor structure of the car.

6. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker and an ice grate swingably mounted upon a wall of the car; a bulkhead anchoring member slidably secured to said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the floor structure of the car and normally supported upon spring means aflixed to said bulkhead whereby said member will be normally maintained out of interlocking engagement with said floor structure, said ice grate being swingable to a horizontal operative position and into engagement with said member whereby said ice grate will urge said member into interlocking engagement with said floor structure and be supported thereby.

'7. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead forming a wall of an ice bunker and an ice grate swingably mounted upon a wall of the car; i

a bulkhead anchoring member slidably secured to said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the floor structure of the car and normally held out of said interlocking holding engagement, said ice grate being swingable to a horizontal operative position in supported engagement with said anchoring member and adapted to move said anchoring member into interlocking holding engagement with said 1100! structure and maintain it in said engagement.

8. In a refrigerator car having a movable bulkhead and an ice grate mounted upon a wall of the car adapted for swinging movement toward and away from said bulkhead; a bulkhead anchoring member slidably mounted upon said bulkhead adapted for interlocking holding engagement with a fixed portion of the car and normally held out of said holding engagement, a detent upon said anchoring member, said ice grate being swingable to a horizontal operative position with a portion thereof in abutting engagement with and adapted to force said anchoring member into said interlocking holding engagement, said last named portion having an abutment thereon adapted for interlocking holding engagement with the detent upon the anchoring member.

9. In a refrigerator car having a transverse bulkhead movable longitudinally of the car and an ice grate pivotally mounted to a wall of the car adapted to swing from a vertical stored position to an operative horizontal position with a portion of said grate extending within the plane boundaries of the bulkhead, a bulkhead anchoring member slidably mounted upon and substantially within said plane boundaries of said bulkhead adapted for locking engagement with a fixed portion of the floor structure and normally held out of said engagement, said grate being adapted to engage and hold said anchoring member in said locking engagement when in said operative horizontal position. v

ARTHUR F. O'CONNOR. 

